Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 November 2023
15. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 403 of 25 July 2023, for an update on the investigations by his officials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51446/23]
View answerThis question relates to concerns I raised with the Minister via parliamentary question and subsequent to a report by Mr. Conor Gallagher in The Irish Times in July that alleged that Irish-made parts were found on Ukrainian battlefields, allegedly as components of Russian military hardware. I would appreciate an update on the issue. Have sanctions been breached? Is it the view of Department officials that sanctions were breached? Has a determination been made? What action, if any, has been taken on that matter?
I can confirm that officials from my Department are still investigating the recovery of a number of items, ostensibly of Irish origin, from Ukraine. The investigations are still ongoing and are complex in nature. The components in question are in circulation in many jurisdictions and may have been resold a number of times before being acquired by bad actors. This has required multiple strands to be assessed, both from a technical and an international perspective, and we have worked with our EU and international partners, including Ukrainian officials, in this regard.
The high degree of complexity of the investigations and the wide web of stakeholders has taken time to bring these investigations towards a conclusion. I can assure the House that upon completion, my officials will take appropriate actions against any actor found to have breached any of the sanctions that are in place in terms of the sanction regimes now in the context of Russia and its actions in Ukraine.
Ireland remains steadfast in standing with the people of Ukraine and condemns Russia's unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine. The EU is responding to Russia's illegal actions with unity, firmness and determination. The EU has to date adopted 11 packages of sanctions in response to Russia's illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. These sanctions are broad-ranging and designed to degrade Russia's ability to continue its military aggression.
My Department has responsibility for the implementation of the trade measures in the sanctions package. The trade measures of these sanctions are sophisticated and targeted. For example, they prohibit the export of goods and technology from the EU to Russia that might contribute to Russia's military and technological enhancement or the development of its defence and security sectors.
My officials continue to engage with exporters across Ireland via outreach or by audits to remind them of their obligation to conduct due diligence so as to ensure that they do not either knowingly or unknowingly export items that are liable to end up in the hands of proliferators or those who are attempting to circumvent EU restrictive measures regarding Russia or, indeed, any other entity or country that is on a list of restrictive measures.
As the Deputy will be aware, the President recently signed the Control of Exports Act 2023 into law. The new legislation will continue to ensure that Ireland has a comprehensive and robust framework for regulating the export of controlled goods, principally dual-use and military items. The Act will mitigate the risk that controlled items could be exported from Ireland in breach of the regulations and used to cause injury in regional conflicts or to violate human rights in third countries. That was quite a long answer, but it is quite a complex issue.
Undoubtedly it is extremely complex, and I understand that. For the record, while we are talking here, I do not want to identify the company, even though it has been identified in the media, unless undue reputational damage would be done. I understand that an investigation is ongoing. What we are referring to here is something that was brought to the attention of the public by Mr. Conor Gallagher in The Irish Times. There was an article with a photograph of a Iranian-made drone that was found in wreckage in a city in Ukraine. The drone featured a carburettor stamped "Made in Ireland" allegedly by a company in the south of the country. Of course, this is a very serious matter and I understand it is complex. It is a very tangled web and reselling is an issue. It is very difficult to establish beyond doubt the provenance of items that may be found in military hardware of this nature. It could be sold and sold again. Could the Minister place on the record when he expects the investigation that is being undertaken by his Department to be completed? The breach of sanctions is a very serious matter and, in fact, constitutes a criminal offence, as Members will know. I would appreciate if the Minister could give a sense of the timeline of the investigation and when he expects it to be completed.
I cannot give an exact end date on this. I will, of course, inform the House as soon as I can. All I can say is that we are taking it really seriously but that if one follows the supply chain network in terms of how a component part gets into a missile in a part of the world and then gets subsequently exported to another part of the world where there may have been multiple different actors involved, it is quite difficult to follow that chain. That is what we are obviously attempting to do to understand and satisfy ourselves that there were no decisions made by an Irish company to facilitate or allow component parts that are being used against civilians in Ukraine to get into ammunition or missiles. Obviously, we would like to bring this to a conclusion as soon as we can so that we can provide clarity to our Ukrainian friends, but also to this House. As soon as I can give the Deputy a timeframe or clarity in terms of the conclusions of the investigation, I will happily do it.
